As I hiked upstream I could hear a dog barking. I tried to tell myself that perhaps someone was just walking a dog....but I knew better. As I turned around a bend I could see no less than six adults, two kids, and two dogs. I tried my best to convince myself that seeing a multi-generational family enjoying a day on the water was a great thing. After all, the very water we were fishing is under attack by a bill proposed by the Montana House of Representatives that would keep us commoners off water that runs through the property of rich pricks who've bought enough votes to make a push against Montana's stream access laws. If families don't get out and use the recreational opportunities then eventually these SOBs will win. So I tried to tell myself it was great to share the water with this large family.
I hiked above this group, trying to leave them plenty of quality water to fish before I dropped back in. As I started fishing again I see a guy hike right past me to find some fresh water. This time I couldn't really pretend that it was good to have another angler on the water, but hey we all have the right to enjoy this fishery. Eventually I caught up to him and chatted for a bit. He seemed like a decent guy and off I went, believing I could finally find some solitude and fish that hadn't been harassed.
I know this water pretty well and was finding that I really wasn't finding fish where they normally would be, rather I had to fish more technically difficult water to consistently pick up fish. I didn't want to believe it but I guessed I was still fishing behind someone. At least this someone wasn't skilled enough to get the difficult fish so I had that going for me. Eventually my suspicion was proven right as I saw another angler coming downstream towards me. We chatted for a bit and again I could find nothing to dislike about the guy in those minutes we compared notes.
As the day wore on it became apparent where this last angler had turned back as the fishing picked up pretty noticeably. All in all a fine day on the water with a mix of high winds, snow, sunshine, and a nice mix of Browns and Rainbows up to 18" and one sucker (my first fair caught sucker in Montana). On my hike out you guessed it, yet another angler. We hiked out together and I gave him a ride to where he was parked. Another nice enough fellow I suppose....
As I drove home I couldn't help but think two things. The first is; that as long and cold as winter in Southwest Montana is I thoroughly enjoy the fact that most winter's days I'm the only one on the water. As we start to see a little warmer days I'm going to see more anglers who've been off the water since November show up to my fishing holes. The second thing that I couldn't get out of my mind was something I read in a John Gierach book:
"There are only two types of fishermen: those in your party, and the assholes. -John Gierach
No comments:
Post a Comment